Tuesday August 9, 2011

The College Ystrad Mynach has reached a new landmark, being the first College in Wales to enrol onto its 50,000th Learndirect course.

Learndirect was set up in 2000 to provide e-learning opportunities online. Now a pivotal part of the college curriculum, Learndirect is used to support college learners courses, in the community and to local business who appreciate the flexibility of the provision.

Jeff Greenidge, Head of UFI Cymru said of The College’s achievement ‘The College has an extensive track record of ensuring that it reaches into the very depths of the local community and beyond. Reaching its 50,000th course through Learndirect is a tremendous feat and is the first college in Wales to achieve this’.

Stephanie Price, a generalist advisor at Caerphilly Citizens Advice Bureau was the learner who enrolled on the 50,000th course. Stephanie enrolled on the ECDL in March 2011 through the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and she feels that the course is very useful in terms of using various computer programs properly. “I would definitely do another learndirect course, the flexibility of when you choose to do topics is excellent, it fits with my personal lifestyle perfectly.”

Bryn Davies, Principal of The College and a supporter of Learndirect since it was launched in 2001, said “staff at the College have embraced the flexibility of Learndirect for the benefit of our learners. Learndirect has become an integral part of our curriculum and has been used to help enrich full time learners knowledge of a subject and has also given learners in the community with family and work commitments the opportunity to learn around their commitments.”